Nebraska Player Quotes vs. Rutgers

Nebraska vs. Rutgers
Nebraska Player Quotes
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014

Senior Ameer Abdullah

On his thoughts of the all-purpose record

"I guess it was good. It's definitely a blessing. Like I've said before, coming here to Nebraska has been much more than I ever dreamed of. Just to accomplish that is definitely a blessing. We've just got to keep our heads down. All that stuff is good. You can't get caught up in that though right now because that's not what is important. What is important is tomorrow and making sure we handle this win the right way. Being as mature as possible about it and move on to Purdue."

On if he will pay more attention to his records later on in life

"They're definitely memories. Every time I step on the field, whether its practice or a game, I'm always creating memories here. There's definitely things I'm always going to remember coming here and playing for this great university. Not many people are blessed with that opportunity. Definitely, its an honor."

On if there is a piece of his game that he is working on the hardest

"Just being as good as I can in every area. Not being just good at certain areas and not so good in other areas. Just showing that I maximize my potential as much as I can in everything that I do."

On how he worked on certain moves

"Just setting up columns at the third level. Working some of the moves that I like to do. There's the spin move, and the shoulder cut back, and a little freeze move. I try to incorporate that into practice. What you do in practice is what you're going to do in the game. I've been working on that pretty hard and so have the other backs. There are some things you need to do."

On what he calls that move

"It's just a cut. Before we keep going I just wanted to give a shout-out to Kenny Bell. He accomplished the all time receiving yards. He's my best friend here and I'm proud of him. So hopefully he's going to watch this interview and hear my shout-out."

On the long kick off

"Oh yeah I didn't know where I was because we were anticipating the pooch so I forgot that I moved up like 5-to-7 yards. So I was counting in my head how many steps I went backwards and it was like seven. So I was like well I have to be in the end zone. But I didn't kneel and that would not have been Top 10. But I looked down and I was like "oh crap" and I felt bad. Everything worked out and it was a great return."

On if he knew that he was that close to the all-purpose record

"No. I didn't even know I had as many yards as I did. I had a couple of long runs early in the game. I felt like I missed a couple things earlier that I'm still kicking myself now. That's why you watch film right before the game."

On if he as ever had that much asked of himself in a game

"Yeah definitely. In high school. Coach Beck (Tim) understands getting the ball in the playmakers hands and spacing is really important. We freed Kenny a lot as well because he's an electrifying guy. We have to utilize all of our skilled players. We don't want to just make this offense one dimensional. We can attack people in multiple regions. Today was just a snippet of it."

On Kenny Bell and his catching ability

"Those dudes (wide receivers) they understand in order for us to be a good team we have to run the ball well. They really take pride in their blocking. I know their room, they have a chart who has the most knock-downs. I think Kenny is leading the team. I'm pretty sure he is, he's a pretty feisty guy. He likes to get after people. And he has fun doing it. Every game we look at each other and say man, we've only got so many quarters left on this team and just cherish it now. He cherishes it so much. I love him for it and I appreciate it."

On if he has done more this year to stay focused

"I just keep practicing. First and foremost I just want to graduate. So I'm more focused on graduating right now than any attention or any hype that surrounds me. I feel like I'm only going to be as successful as my team. So as far as this team goes is as far as I'm going to go."

On Bo (Pelini) not seeming satisfied

"No. We aren't satisfied as a team. Too many mental lapse in the game where guys weren't staying focused. We got up and guys would take their foot off the gas pedal so to speak. We can't be that kind of team in order for us to get to where we want to be and win the rest of these games like we set out to do. We can't take a deep breath in the second quarter. We have to keep going and we have to keep executing at a high level and we didn't do that today. It's kind of disappointing. At times guys on the team kept picking it up. We finished the game the right way but we played too sporadic. We have to be consistent throughout the game." 

On where they are as a team and not being happy with the game today

"Definitely. It tells me a lot about this team. I know there's so much more out there for us. We won by 18 and I think we could have played much better. We should have played much better. It sounds good but we have to be much better. We can't just keep talking about hey we could have been we could have been, we have to do it. It starts with preparation and it starts tomorrow. We're going to cherish this win now but we're going to get back to the ground tomorrow."

Senior Wide Receiver Kenny Bell

On what he told the players in his speech

"That I love them and appreciate them. I'm extremely blessed to be playing with such a great group of guys that support and love me, so I really just told them I really support them. I got pretty emotional. I really appreciate those guys. Every single one of them. Starting lineman on offense, defense, special teams, a guy that just walked on and made it. I really appreciate those guys."

On breaking all-time catch record

"I haven't really thought about it. I didn't realize I was so close until this week. It's awesome. It's a great feeling, obviously, to be in the same breath as Nate Swift and Johnny Rodgers. That's pretty amazing. Swifty is an unbelievable guy. I've gotten the opportunity to meet him quite a few times and obviously everybody loves Johnny Rodgers. As far as just the numbers, yeah it's cool but I'd much rather be remembered for the type of person I am, and how I treat people, and the relationships I've made here at this University, and the impact I've made with the community way more than I care about my final statistics."

On if he knew what he needed to break the record

"Yeah, I knew where I was the whole game. I'd be lying if I wasn't. I didn't know yardage-wise, but I knew how many catches I needed. I knew I needed six. I'm really thankful for Coach (Tim) Beck, Bo (Pelini), the Mad Scientist and Boss Man really tried their best to get it to me today. I couldn't be more appreciative. But of course, Ameer Abdullah has to break a school record the same game. I was like 'this guy.' He's a stud, big hats off to him. Congratulations to my boy Ameer.

On the 18-point win

"We're not satisfied at all. Today felt like Wyoming from last year when we got a 'W' but we didn't play the toughest football we wanted to play. We were up by a pretty good amount, I don't know how much, but we took our foot off the gas pedal. We talk about week in and week out but eventually, our words have to become our actions and that didn't happen today. We'll regroup. Obviously we're going to enjoy this one. It's not easy to win football games, so we're going to enjoy it but we have work to do and we're going to get to that work tomorrow."

On reflecting on the past

"I haven't done that yet. I haven't taken a moment yet and just taken a breath and appreciate it like I want to. I try. I listened to Quincy Enunwa, I listened to Will Compton talk about appreciating it every minute. It's going to go. It's slipping by unbelievably fast. It's saddening because I've had so much fun. I love this University, I love all the people, I love everything about Husker football. Highs and lows. It's been an amazing ride for me. it's something that I need to do more. Sit back and reflect on it because before I know it, it's going to be January and I'm going to be crying in front of you guys because I don't get to wear an 'N' on my helmet anymore."

Sophomore Quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr.

On his evaluation of the game

"I feel we started off the right way. Scored in our first jog but I felt like we got too comfortable. We were dropping the ball. Mistakes killed us here and there. We just want to play a consistent game. I felt like this game was inconsistent in certain areas and that caused it here and there."

On snap issues

"It was just miscommunication. We just have to make sure we get snaps down and make sure we get prepared for it. Make sure we got those snaps down before the game. We just have to make sure we do that right before the game."

On Kenny Bell
"He had a speech after the game. He did a great job, he's done a great job over the past four or five years he's been here. I applaud him. He really wasn't looking at it that way of maybe trying to break it this game. We just wanted to play our offense. Eventually the ball went to him. He has the right mindset. He doesn't want to take all the fame and all the lights out of this team and just make sure we move onto the next week because our season is not over."

On the red zone
"I felt like they're going into the red zone, they were going to blitz more. We just had to make sure we that we know our whereabouts and I think our team did a great job of doing that."

On what the 18-point win says about the team and his evaluation
"We're good, but we can get better. We're a dangerous team when we actually are all in and when we're giving 100 percent. We just have to make sure that we stay consistent. We are a dangerous team. We have four or five games to play. We just have to make sure that we stay on the right page. We just got too comfortable. We put our defense in some bad situations at times."

On if he made an effort to throw Kenny Bell the ball

"No. We were just running the offense. If guys are going to put three on two on their side when you have three receivers out wide I'm going to throw the ball to him. That game is us running offense. He got open here and there but also the other guys got catches as well. We just have to make plays."

On what Kenny Bell said in his speech

"He just said he wanted to praise everybody. Not just the offense, not just the defense and guys on special teams that started. It takes everybody in general, scout teams, stuff like that. Making them better. Giving them the ball and making sure we celebrate the right way when it comes to certain things. He's really level-headed about the situation just because he knows that our season is not over after this game. He has more ball to play."

On his trust in Kenny Bell

"I have a lot of trust in him. He's made a lot of big plays this year. In spring ball and fall camp, I just have to make sure I have the chemistry down. Last year you know I was starting after week three or week four, and I didn't really have chemistry with those guys as much. I think this year being able to have all of those guys healthy and being able to run certain routes, stuff like that. Just being on the same page as those guys and knowing what kind of routes they're going to run, those certain routes. It's helped me a lot. Kenny, he's a great athlete. He's running, he's blocking, they're doing a great job. Most guys look at that game and say they called a lot of passes or they converted and stuff like that, but if you look at it the right way, those guys blocked. They made holes open for Ameer (Abdullah). Without those blocks, Ameer wouldn't have had all the yards he had."

On if there is anything that Ameer Abdullah can't do

"He can't sing. That's all I know. He's done a great job. He's a playmaker. Get the ball in his hands in certain situations, that's what he does. We knew that after the first time he stepped out there. You just have to make sure you go about it the right way. We praise the offensive line because it starts off with those guys. He's done a great job as well."

On how important it is to get the tight ends involved

"They're doing a great job. They're switching in and out here and there. We've got a bunch of formations with certain guys in. You just have to understand they have to be part of the play-making crew. When their number is called they have to step up, and I think that they took that challenge the right way when it comes to this offense. Being able to block and being able to catch the ball when the ball is thrown to them. We just have to make sure that we put them in the right situations to execute and I think we a great job of it."